Horror Headlines 4/1/08

Mick Garris is handing over the reins of the remake to the 1979 Australian vampire flick "Thirst" to Joe Dante (Gremlins), because he's readying himself for another Stephen King Adaptation, "Bag of Bones". For some ungodly reason I've actually seen "Thirst", which is about a race of vampires who essentially use humans as cows, only with blood replacing milk. The film is frigging atrocious, but the concept is great, which means that this one is actually perfect for a remake. Too bad Hollywood isn't going this route with most remakes. More as it comes in.

The viral campaign for "The Dark Knight" is impressive even to me, a person who is increasingly annoyed by these campaigns every day. The latest trick involves cellphones that were handed out to internet scoopers a while back, which are now ringing. Phones are either being called by The Joker, giving clues to a riddle, or Harvey Dent, soliciting your vote for district attorney. There is also a "Dent-Mobile", traveling the country trying to make the case to voters to elect Dent. Is anyone else creeped out by Heath Ledger calling people from beyond the grave? Jesus this film is going to be uncomfortable to watch... and I can't wait!

While sitting in with Night of the Living Podcast this weekend and interviewing Danny Trejo, he dropped the news that Robert Rodriguez will be working on "Machete" as his next project, and that he will in fact be directing. "Machete" is based on his fake "Grindhouse" trailer, which is about a betrayed Federale who decides to take revenge with a really, really big knife.

Senator Entertainment has picked up the North American distro rights to the Guillermo Del Toro produced flick "Splice", about scientists who manage to fuse human and animal DNA to create a beautiful yet dangerous "Chimera" type creature. The film is written and directed by Vincenzo Natali, who horror/sci-fi fans might remember from the very solid Direct to Video flick "Cube" from 2000. I would assume this news means we'll be hearing a release date real soon. I'll keep my ears to the ground. Meanwhile, the Del Toro directed "Hell Boy II" is still on track for it's July 11th release.

A BD scooper claims that Spielberg is contemplating remaking both "Duel" and "Jaws". I've never seen "Duel" so I can't speak on that idea, but I think you can all guess at how much I want to see a redux of "Jaws". At this point, I'm just waiting for the signal from Hollywood that I can stop bending over for remake after remake. I can't really see though from this position, so you'll have to keep your eyes open for me.

Tyler Perry to make a horror film? Okay, nevermind, a "Jaws" remake doesn't sound that bad. Oh, and let's start the pool now for how many times he'll work his name into the title.

In Real People News:

Fireworks and lights fell onto the crowd Sunday at Wrestlemania in Orlando, Florida. Bonus points for anyone who can point me in the direction of the video. That, or the "Owen Hart incident"... I have to admit I kind of always wanted to see that too.

The son of one of Adolf Hitler's friends and president of Formula One Racing's governing body, is being asked to step down after video of him holding A Nazi style orgy has surfaced. Wait, what? So... many... jokes... to... make. Um... I smell the next "Grindhouse" trailer? I'm still exhausted from this weekend so that will have to do.

On this day in history:

1793: Unsen volcano erupts, accompanied by several devastating earthquakes. The Japanese island is completely destroyed, killing approximately 53,000 inhabitants.